with fatness: then he "forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. 16 They provoked him to "jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to an ger. them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters. 20 And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith. 17 They "sacrificed unto devils, * not to God; to 21 They have moved me to jealousy with that gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came which is not God; they have provoked me to anger newly up, whom your fathers feared not. with their vanities: and I will move them to jea18 Of the Rock that begat thee thou art un-lousy with those which are not a people; I will promindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee. voke them to anger with a foolish nation. 19 And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred V. 15-18. We have here a description of the apostacy of Israel from God, which would shortly come to pass, and which already they had a disposition to. One would have thought that a people under so many obligations to their God, in duty, gratitude, and interest, should never have turned from him; but, alas! they turned aside quickly. Here are two great instances of their wickedness, and each of them amounted to an apostacy from God. I. Security and sensuality, pride and insolence, and the other common abuses of plenty and prosperity, v. 15. These people were called Jeshurun, an upright people, so some; a seeing people, so others: but they soon lost the reputation both of their knowledge and of their righteousness; for, being well fed, 1. They waxed fat, and grew thick, that is, they indulged themselves in all manner of luxury and gratifications of their appetites, as if they had nothing to do but to make provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts of it. They grew fat, that is, they grew big and unwieldy, unmindful of business, and unfit for it; dull and stupid, careless and senseless; and this was the effect of their plenty. Thus the prosperity of fools destroys them, Prov. 1. 32. Yet this was not the worst of it, 2. They kicked: they grew proud and insolent, and lifted up the heel even against God himself; if God rebuked them, either by his prophets or by his providence, they kicked against the good, as an untamed heifer, or a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke, and in their rage persecuted the prophets, and flew in the face of Providence itself. And thus he forsook God that made him, (not paying due respects to his Creator, nor answering the ends of his creation,) and put an intolerable contempt upon the Rock of his salvation, as if he were not indebted to him for any past favours, nor had any dependence upon him for the future. Those that make a god of themselves, and a god of their bellies, in pride and wantonness, and cannot bear to be told of it, certainly thereby forsake God, and show how lightly they esteem him. II. Idolatry was the great instance of their apostacy, and which the former led them to, as it made them sick of their religion, self-willed, and fond of changes. Observe, 1. What sort of gods they chose and offered sacrifice to, when they forsook the God that made them, v. 16, 17. This aggravated their sin, that those very services which they should have done to the true God, they did, (1.) To strange gods, that could not pretend to have done them any kindness, or laid them under any obligation to them; gods that they had no knowledge of, nor could expect any benefit by, for they were strangers. Or, they are called strange gods, because they were other than the one only true God to whom they were betrothed, and ought to have been faithful. (2.) To new gods that came newly up; for even in religion, the antiquity of which is one of its honours, vain minds have strangely affected novelty, and, in contempt of the Ancient of days, have been fond of new gods. A new god! Can there be a more monstrous absurdity? Would we find the right way to rest, we must ask for the good old way, Jer. 6. 16. It was true, their fathers had worshipped other gods, Josh. 24. 2, and perhaps it had been some little excuse if the children had returned to them; but to serve new gods whom their fathers feared not, and to like them the better for being new, was to open a door to endless idolatries. (3.) They were such as were no gods at all, but mere counterfeits and pretenders; their names, the inventions of men's fancies, and their images, the work of men's hands. Nay, (4.) They were devils, So far from being gods, fathers, and benefactors to mankind, they really wore destroyers; so the word signifies; such as aimed to do mischief: if there were any spirits or invisible powers that possessed their idol temples and images, they were evil spirits and malignant powers, whom yet they did not need to worship for fear they should hurt them, as they say the Indians do; for they that faithfully worship God, are out of the devil's reach: nay, the devil can destroy those only that sacrifice to him. How mad are idolaters, who forsake the Rock of salvation, to run themselves upon the rock of perdition! 2. What a great affront this was to Jehovah their God. (1.) It was justly interpreted a forgetting of him, v. 18, Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful. Mindfulness of God would prevent sin, but when the world is served and the flesh indulged, God is forgotten; and can any thing be more base and unworthy than to forget the God that is the Author of our being, by whom we subsist, and in whom we live and move? And see what comes of it, Is. 17. 10, 11, Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the Rock of thy strength, though the strange slips be pleasant plants at first, yet the harvest at last will be a heap in 22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall Is. 17. 10. Tor, despised. y Rom. 10. 19. z Lam. 4. 11. for, hath burned. the day of grief and of desperate sorrow. There is nothing got by forgetting God. (2.) It was justly resented as an inexcusable offence. They provoked him to jealousy and to anger, (v. 16,) for their idols were abominations to him. See here God's displeasure against idols, whether they be set up in the heart or in the sanctuary. [1.] He is jealous of them, as rivals with him for the throne in the heart. [2.] He hates them, as enemies to his crown and government. [3.] He is, and will be, very angry with those that have any respect or affection for them. Those consider not what they do, that provoke God; for who knows the power of his anger? V. 19-25. The method of this song follows the method of the predictions in the foregoing chapter, and therefore, after the revolt of Israel from God, described in the foregoing verses, here follow immediately the resolves of divine justice concerning them; we deceive ourselves, if we think that God will thus be mocked by a foolish faithless people that play fast and loose with him. I. He had delighted in them, but now he would reject them with detestation and disdain, v. 19. When the Lord saw their treachery and folly and base ingratitude, he abhorred them, he despised them. So some read it. Sin makes us odious in the sight of the holy God; and no sinners are so loathsome to him, as those that he has called, and that have called themselves, his sons and his daughters, and yet have been provoking to him. Note, The nearer any are to God in profession, the more noisome are they to him if they are defiled in a sinful way, Ps. 106. 39, 40. II. He had given them the tokens of his presence with them, and his favour to them; but now he would withdraw, and hide his face from them, v. 20. His hiding his face signifies his great displeasure; they had turned the back upon God, and now God would turn his back upon them; (Compare Jer. 18. 17, with Jer. 2. 27;) but here it denotes also the slowness of God's proceedings against them in a way of judgment. They began in their apostacy with omissions of good, and so proceeded to commissions of evil. In like manner, God will first suspend his favours, and let them see what the issue of that will be,what a friend they lose when they provoke God to depart, and will try whether that will bring them to repentance. Thus we find God hiding himself, as it were, in expectation of the event, Is. 57. 17. To justify himself in leaving them, he shows that they were such as there was no dealing with: for, 1. They were froward, and a people that could not be pleased; or, obstinate in sin, and that could not be convinced and reclaimed. 2. They were faithless, and a people that could not be trusted. When he saved them, and took them into covenant, he said, Surely they are children that will not lie, Is. 63. 8, but when they proved otherwise, children in whom is no faith, they deserved to be abandoned, and that the God of truth should have no more to do with them. III. He had done every thing to make them easy and to please them, but now he would do that against them, which should be most vexatious to them. The punishment here answers the sin, v. 21. 1. They had provoked God with despicable deities, which were not gods at all, but vanities; creatures of their own imagination, that could not pretend either to merit, or to repay the respects of their worshippers; the more vain and vile the gods were after which they went a whoring, the greater was the offence to that great and good God whom they set them up in competition with, and contradiction to. This put two great evils into their idolatry, Jer. 2. 13. 2. God would therefore plague them with despicable enemies, that were worthless, weak, and inconsiderable, and not deserving the name of a people, which was a great mortification to them, and aggravated the oppressions they groaned under. The more base the people were that tyrannized over them, the more barbarous they would be; none so insolent as a beggar on horseback: besides that it would be infamous to Israel, who had so often triumphed over great and mighty nations, to be themselves trampled upon by the weak and foolish, and to come under the curse of Canaan, who was to be a servant of servants. But God can make the weakest instrument a scourge to the strongest sinner; and they that by sin insult their mighty Creator, are justly insulted by the meanest of their fellow-creatures. This was remarkably fulfilled in the days of the Judges, when they were sometimes oppressed by the very Canaanites themselves, whom they had subdued, as Judg. 4. 2. But the apostle applies it to the conversion of the Gentiles, who had been not a people in covenant with God and foolish in divine things, yet were brought into the church sorely to the grief of the Jews, who, upon all occasions, showed a great indignation at it, which * burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. 23 I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them. 24 They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust. 25 The sword without, and terror within, shall $destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs. 26 I said, I would scatter them into corners, I ⚫or, hath consumed. a Zeph. 3. 8. b Ez. 5. 16. † coals. Hab. 3. 5. c Ea. 14. 21. from the chambers. was both their sin and their punishment, as envy always is, Rom. 10. 19. would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men: 27 Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, "Our hand is high, and the LORD hath not done all this. 28 For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them. 29 O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! 30 How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up? § bereave. d Is. 63. 16. lor, our high hand, and not the Lord, hath done. Pa. 81. 13. f Is. 50. 1. Mercy prevails for the sparing of a remnant, and the saving of that unworthy people from utter ruin. I feared the wrath of the enemy. It is an expression after the manner of men; it is certain that God fcars no man's wrath, but he acted in this matter as if he had feared it. Those few good people in Israel, that had a concern for the honour of God's name, feared the wrath of the enemy in this instance more than in any other, as Joshua, ch. 7. 9, and David often; and because they feared it, God himself is said to fear it. He needed not Moses to plead it with him, but reminded himself of it, What will the Egyptians say? Let all those whose hearts tremble for the ark of God and his Israel, comfort themselves with this, that God will work for his own name, and will not suffer it to be profaned and polluted; how much soever we deserve to be disgraced, God will never disgrace the throne of his glory. IV. He had planted them in a good land, and replenished them with all good things; but now he would strip them of all their comforts, and bring them to ruin. The judgments threatened are very terrible, v. 22-25. 1. The fire of God's anger shall consume them, v. 22. Are they proud of their plenty? It shall burn up the increase of the earth. Are they confident of their strength? It shall destroy the very foundations of their mountains: there is no fence against the judgments of God, when they come with commission to lay all waste. It shall burn to the lowest hell, that is, it shall bring them to the very depth of misery in this world, which yet would be but a faint resemblance of the complete and endless misery of sinners in the other world. The damnation of hell (as our Saviour calls it) is the fire of God's anger, fastening upon the guilty conscience of a sinner, to its inexpressible and everlasting torment, Is. 30. 33. 2. The arrows of God's judgments shall be spent upon them, till his quiver is quite exhausted, v. 23. The judg-nounced them a foolish people, and of no understanding; yet ments of God, like arrows, fly swiftly, Ps. 64. 7, reaching those at a distance who flatter themselves with hopes of escaping them, Ps. 21. 8, 12. They come from an unseen hand, but wound mortally, for God never misses his mark, 1 Kings 22. 34. The particular judgments here threatened, are, (1.) Famine, they shall be burned, or parched with hunger. (2.) Pestilence and other diseases, here called burning heat, and bitter destruc-end, or the future state. It is here meant particularly of that tion. (3.) The insults of the inferior creatures; the teeth of beasts and the poison of serpents, v. 24. (4.) War and the fatal consequences of it, v. 25. [1.] Perpetual frights. When the sword is without, there cannot but be terror within; 2 Cor. 7. 5, Without were fightings, within were fears: those who cast off the fear of God, are justly exposed to the fear of enemies. [2.] Universal deaths; the sword of the Lord, when it is sent to lay all waste, will destroy without distinction; neither the strength of the young man, nor the beauty of the virgin, nor the innocency of the suckling, nor the gravity or infirmity of the man of gray hairs, will be their security from the sword when it devours one as well as another. Such devastation does war make, especially when it is pushed on by men as ravenous as wild beasts, and as venomous as serpents, v. 24. See here what mischief sin does; and reckon those fools that make a mock at it. V. 26-38. After many terrible threatenings of deserved wrath and vengeance, we have here surprising intimations of mercy, undeserved mercy, which rejoices against judgment, and by which it appears that God has no pleasure in the death of sinners, but would rather they should turn and live. I. In jealousy for his own honour, he will not make a full end of them, v. 26-28. 1. It cannot be denied, but that they deserved to be utterly ruined, and that their remembrance should be made to cease from among men; so that the name of an Israelite should never be known but in history; for they were a nation void of counsel, v. 28, the most sottish inconsiderate people that ever were; that would not believe the glory of God, though they saw it, nor understand his loving-kindness, though they tasted it, and lived upon it. Of them who could cast off such a God, such a law, such a covenant, for vain and dunghill deities, it might truly be said, There is no understanding in them. 2. It had been an easy thing with God to ruin them, and blot out the remembrance of them; when the greatest part of them were cut off by the sword, it was but scattering the remnant into some remote obscure corners of the earth, where they should never have been heard of more, and the thing had been done. See Ez. 5. 12. God can destroy those that are most strongly fortified, disperse those that are most closely united, and bury those names in perpetual oblivion, that have been most celebrated. 3. Justice demanded it. I said I would scatter them. It is fit they should be cut off from the earth, that have cut themselves off from their God; why should they not be dealt with according to their deserts? 4. Wisdom considered the pride and insolence of the enemy, which would take occasion from the ruin of a people that had been so dear to God, and for whom he had done such great things, to reflect upon God, and to imagine that because they had got the better of Israel, they had carried the day against the God of Israel. The adversaries will say, Our hand is high; high indeed, when it has been too high for those whom God himself fought for; nor will they consider that the Lord has done all this, but will dream that they have done it in despite of him, as if the God of Israel were as weak and impotent, and as easily run down, as the pretended deities of other nations. 5. In consideration of this, II. In concern for their welfare, he earnestly desires their conversion; and in order to that, their serious consideration of their latter end, v. 29. Observe, 1. Though God had prohe wishes they were wise, as Deut. 5. 29, O that there were such a heart in them! and Ps. 94. 8, Ye fools, when will ye be wise? God delights not to see sinners ruin themselves; but desires they will help themselves; and if they will, he is ready to help them. 2. It is a great piece of wisdom, and will contribute much to the return of sinners to God, seriously to consider the latter which God by Moses had foretold concerning this people in the latter days; but it may be applied more generally. We ought to understand and consider, (1.) The latter end of life, and the future state of the soul. To think of death as our removal from a world of sense to a world of spirits; the final period of our state of trial and probation, and our entrance upon an unchangeable state of recompense and retribution. (2.) The latter end of sin, and the future state of those that live and die in it. O that men would consider the happiness they will lose, and the misery they will certainly plunge themselves into, if they go on still in their trespasses, what will be in the end thereof, Jer. 5. 31. Jerusalem forgat this, and therefore came down wonderfully, Lam. 1. 9. III. He calls to mind the great things he had done for them formerly, as a reason why he should not quite cast them off. This seems to be the meaning of that, (v. 30, 31,) "How should one Israelite have been too hard for a thousand Canaanites, as they have been many a time; but that God, who is greater than all gods, fought for them?" And so it corresponds with that, Is. 63. 10, 11. When he was turned to be their enemy, as here, and fought against them for their sins, then he remembered the days of old, saying, Where is he that brought them out of the sea? So here, his arm begins to awake as in the days of old against the wrath of the enemy, Ps. 138. 7. There was a time when the enemies of Israel were sold by their own rock, that is, their own idol gods, who could not help them, but betray them, because Jehovah, the God of Israel, had shut them up as sheep for the slaughter. For the enemies themselves must own that their gods were a very unequal match for the God of Israel. For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, v. 32, 33. This must be meant of the enemies of Israel, who therefore fell so easily before the sword of Israel, because they were ripe for ruin, and the measure of their iniquity was full. Yet these verses may be understood of the strange prevalency of the enemies of Israel against them, when God made use of them as the rod of his anger, Is. 10. 5, 6. "How should one Canaanite chase a thousand Israelites," (as it is threatened against those that trust to Egypt for help, Is. 30. 17, One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one,) "unless Israel's Rock had deserted them, and given them up ?" For otherwise, however they may impute their power to their gods, Hab. 1. 11, as the Philistines imputed their victory to Dagon; it is certain the enemies' rock could not have prevailed against the Rock of Israel; God would soon have subdued their enemies, (Ps. 81. 14,) but that the wickedness of Israel delivered them into their hands. For their vine, that is, Israel's, is of the vine of Sodom, v. 32, 33. They were planted a choice vine, wholly a right seed, but by sin were become the degenerate plant of a strange vine, Jer. 2. 21, and not only transcribed the iniquity of Sodom, but outdid it, Éz. 16. 48. God called them his vineyard, his pleasant plant, Is. 5. 7. But their fruits were, 1. Very offensive, and displeasing to God, bitter as gall. 2. Very malignant, and pernicious one to another, like the cruel venom of asps. Some understand this of their punishment; their sin would be 31 For their rock is not as our Rock, even hour enemies themselves being judges. 32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom,* and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter: 33 Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps." 34 Is not this laid up "in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures? 35 To me belongeth vengeance, and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste. 1 Sam. 2.2. h1 Sam. 4. 8. or, worse than. [Ps. 58. 4. m Rom. 3. 13. n Jer. 2. 22. Rom. 2.5. i Jer. 2. 21. k Is. 1. 10. o Heb. 10.30. bitterness in the latter end, 2 Sam. 2. 26, it would bite like a serpent, and sting like an adder, Job 20. 14. Prov. 23. 32. IV. He resolves upon the destruction of those at last, that had been their persecutors and oppressors. When the cup of trembling goes round, the king of Babel shall pledge it at last, Jer. 25. 26, and see Ís. 51. 22, 23. The day is coming, when the judgment that began at the house of God, shall end with the sinner and ungodly, I Pet. 4. 17, 18. God will in due time bring down the church's enemies. 1. In displeasure against their wickedness, which he takes notice of, and keeps an account of, v. 34, 35. Is not this implacable fury of theirs against Israel laid up in store with me, to be reckoned for hereafter, when it shall be made to appear, that to me belongs vengeance? Some understand it of the sin of Israel; especially their persecuting the prophets, which was laid up in store against them from the blood of righteous Abel, Matt. 23. 35. However, it teaches us, that the wickedness of the wicked is all laid up in store with God. (1.) He observes it, Ps. 90. 8. He knows both what the vine is, and what the grapes: what the temper of the mind, and what the actions of the life. (2.) He keeps a record of it, both in his own omniscience, and in the sinner's conscience; and this is sealed up among his treasures, which denotes both safety and secrecy : These books cannot be lost; nor will they be opened till the great day. See Hos. 13. 12. (3.) He often delays the punishment of sin for a great while, it is laid up in store, till the measure be full, and the day of divine patience be expired. See Job 21. 29, 30. (4.) There is a day of reckoning coming, when all the treasures of guilt and wrath will be broken up, and the sin of sinners shall surely find them out. [1.] The thing itself will certainly be done, for the Lord is a God to whom vengeance belongs, and therefore he will repay, Is. 59. 18. This is quoted by the apostle, to show the severity of God's wrath against those that revolt from the faith of Christ, Heb. 10. 30. [2.] It will be done in due time; in the best time; nay, it will be done in a short time. The day of their calamity is at hand: and though it may seem to tarry, it lingers not, it slumbers not, but makes haste. In one hour shall the judgment of Babylon come. 2. He will do it in compassion to his own people, who, though they had greatly provoked him, yet stood in relation to him, and their misery appealed to his mercy, v. 36, The Lord shall judge his people, that is, judge for them against their enemies, plead their cause, and break the yoke of oppression under which they had long groaned, repenting himself for his servants; not changing his mind, but changing his way, and fighting for them, as he had fought against them, when he sees that their power is gone. This plainly points at the deliverances God wrought for Israel by the judges out of the hands of those to whom he had sold them for their sins. See Judg. 2. 11-19. And how his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel, Judg. 10. 16. And this when they were reduced to the last extremity; God helped them when they could not help themselves; for there was none shut up or left; that is, none that dwelt either in cities or walled towns, in which they were shut up, nor any that dwelt in scattered houses in the country, in which they were left at a distance from neighbours. Note, God's time to appear for the deliverance of his people, is when things are at the worst with them. God tries his people's faith, and stirs up prayer, by letting things go to the worst, and then magnifies his own power, and fills the faces of his enemies with shame, and the hearts of his people with so much the greater joy, by rescuing them out of extremity, as brands out of the burning. 3. He will do it in contempt, and to the reproach of the idol gods, v. 37, 38. Where are their gods? Two ways it may be understood; (1.) That God would do that for his people, which the idols they had served could not do for them. They had forsaken God, and been very liberal in their sacrifices to idols; had brought to their altars the fat of their sacrifices, and the wine of their drink-offerings, which they supposed their deities to feed upon, and on which they feasted with them. Now," says God," will these gods you have made your court to, at so great an expense, help you in your distress, and so repay you for all your charges in their service? Go get you to the gods you have served, and let them deliver you," Judg. 10. 14. This is intended to convince them of their folly in forsaking a God that could help them, for those that could not, and so to bring them to repentance, and qualify them for deliverance. When the adulteress shall follow after her lovers, and not overtake them, pray to her idols, and receive no kindness from them, then thou 36 For the LORD shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left. 37 And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted; 38 Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink-offerings? let them "rise up and help you, and be your protection. 39 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I "kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand. p Jer. 13. 16. q 2 Pet. 2. 3. Judg. 10. 15, 16. thand. s Judg. 10. 14. tan hiding for you. tls. 45, 5, 18, 22. u Ps. 68. 20. Rev. 1. 17, 18. shalt say, I will go and return to my first husband, Hos. 2. 7. See Is. 16. 12. Jer. 2. 27, 28. Or, (2.) That God would do that against his enemies, which the idols they had served could not save them from. Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar boldly challenged the God of Israel to deliver his worshippers, Is. 37. 10. Dan. 3. 15, and he did deliver them, to the confusion of their enemies. But the God of Israel challenged Bel and Nebo to deliver their worshippers, to rise up and help them, and to be their protection, Is. 47. 12, 13, but they were so far from helping them, that they themselves, that is, their images, which was all that was of them, went into captivity, Is. 46. 1, 2. Note, Those who trust to any rock but God, will find it sand in the day of their distress; it will fail them then, when they most need it. V. 39-43. This conclusion of the song speaks three things: I. Glory to God, v. 39, See now upon the whole matter, that I, even I, am he. Learn this from the destruction of idolaters, and the inability of their idols to help them. The great God here demands the glory, 1. Of a self-existence; I, even I, am he. Thus Moses concludes with that name of God, by which he was first made to know him, Ex. 3. 14, "I am that I am. I am he that I have been, that I will be, that I have promised to be, that I have threatened to be; all shall find me true to both." The Targum of Uzzielides paraphrases it thus: When the word of the Lord shall reveal himself to redeem his people, he shall say to all people, See, that I now am what I am and have been, and I am what I will be: which we know very well how to apply to him, who said to John, I am he which is, and was, and is to come, Rev. 1. 8. These words, I, even I, am he, we meet often in those chapters of Isaiah, where God is encouraging his people to hope for their deliverance out of Babylon, Is. 41. 4.—43. 11, 13,25.-46. 4. 2. Of a sole supremacy; "There is no god with me. None to help with me, none to cope with me." See Is. 43. 10,11. 3. Of an absolute sovereignty, and universal agency: I kill, and I make alive, that is, All evil and all good come from his hand of providence, he forms both the light of life, and the darkness of death, Is. 45. 7. Lam. 3. 37, 38. Or, he kills and wounds his enemies, but heals and makes alive his own people; kills and wounds with his judgments those that revolt from him, and rebel against him; but when they return and repent, he heals them, and makes them alive with his mercy and grace. Or, it denotes his incontestable authority to dispose of all his creatures, and the beings he has given them, so as to serve his own purposes by them; whom he will he slays, and whom he will he keeps alive, when his judgments are abroad. Or thus, Though he kill, yet he makes alive again; though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion, Lam. 3. 32. Though he have torn, he will heal us, Hos. 6. 1, 2. The Jerusalem Targum reads it, I kill those that are alive in this world, and make those alive in the other world that are dead. And some of the Jewish doctors themselves have observed that death, and a life after it, that is, eternal life, is intimated in these words. 4. Of an irresistible power, which cannot be controlled; Neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand those that I have marked for destruction. As no exception can be made against the sentence of God's justice, so no escape can be made from the executions of his power. II. Terror to his enemies, v. 40-42. Terror indeed to those that hate him, as all those do, that serve other gods, that persist in wilful disobedience to the divine law, and that malign and persecute his faithful servants; these are they whom God will render vengeance to; those his enemies that will not have him to reign over them. In order to alarm such in time to repent and return to their allegiance, the wrath of God is here revealed from heaven against them, 1. The divine sentence is ratified with an oath, v. 40. He lifts up his hand to heaven the habitation of his holiness; this was an ancient and very significant sign used in swearing, Gen. 14. 22. And since he could swear by no greater, he swears by himself and his own life. Those are miserable without remedy, that have the word and oath of God against them. The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, that the sin of sinners shall be their ruin, if they go on in it. 2. Preparation is made for the execution; the glittering sword is whet. See Ps. 7. 12. It is a sword bathed in heaven, Is. 34. 5. While the sword is in whetting, space is given to the sinner to repent and make his peace, which if he does not, the wound will be the deeper. And as the sword is whet, so the hand that is to wield it takes hold on judgment with a resolution to go through with it. 3. The execution itself will be very Moses's Charge to Israel. 40 For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever. 41 If I whet my glittering sword," and mine hand take hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. 42 I will make mine arrows "drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy. 43 Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people. 44 And Moses came and spake all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he, and Hoshea the son of Nun. over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, 50 And die in the mount whither thou goest up, 51 Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel: 52 Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel. CHAPTER XXXIII. 45 And Moses made an end of speaking all these yet Moses has not done with the children of Israel; he seemed to have taken final words to all Israel: 46 And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law. 47 For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it. leave of them in the close of the foregoing chapter, but still be has something more 48 And the LORD spake unto Moses that self- A same day, saying, 49 Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is Ez. 21. 9-15. 10 Ps. 45. 5. or, sing ye, or, praise his people, ye nations. Rev. 19. 2. y Pa. 85.1. for, Joshua. z Prov. 3. 1-4. Ea. 40. 4. a Lev. 18. 5. Prov. 4. 22. terrible; the sword shall devour flesh in abundance, and the arrows be made drunk with blood, such vast quantities of it shall be shed; the blood of the slain in battle, and of the captives, to whom no quarter should be given, but who shall be put under military execution. When he begins revenge, he will make an end; for in this also his work is perfect. The critics are much perplexed with the last clause, From the beginning of revenges upon the enemy. The learned Bishop Patrick (that great master) thinks it may admit this reading, From the king to the slave of the enemies, Jer. 50. 35-37. When the sword of God's wrath is drawn, it will make bloody work, blood to the horse-bridles, Rev. 14. 20. III. Comfort to his own people, v. 43, Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people. He concludes the song with words of joy; for in God's Israel there is a remnant whose end will be peace; God's people will rejoice at last, will rejoice everlastingly. Three things are here mentioned as matter of joy. 1. The enlarging of the church's bounds; the apostle applies the first words of this verse to the conversion of the Gentiles, Rom. 15. 10, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people. See what the grace of God does in the conversion of souls, it brings them to rejoice with the people of God; for true religion brings us acquainted with true joy; so great a mistake are they under, that think it tends to make men melancholy. 2. The avenging of the church's controversies upon her adversaries. He will make inquisition for the blood of his servants, and it shall appear how precious it is to him, for they that spilt it shall have blood given them to drink. 3. The mercy God has in store for his church, and for all that belong to it; he will be merciful to his land, and to his people, that is, to all, every where, that fear and serve him. Whatever judgments are brought upon sinners, it shall go well with the people of God; in this let Jews and Gentiles rejoice together. V. 44-52. Here is, I. The solemn delivery of this song to the children of Israel, v. 44, 45. Moses spake it to as many as could hear him, while Joshua, in another assembly, at the same time, delivered it to as many as his voice would reach. Thus coming to them from the mouth of both their governors, Moses, who was laying down the government, and Joshua, who was taking it up, they would see they were both in the same mind, and that, though they changed their commander, there was no change in the divine command; Joshua, as well as Moses, would be a witness against them, if ever they forsook God. II. An earnest charge to them to mind these and all the rest of the good words that Moses had said unto them. How earnestly does he long after them all, how very desirous that the word of God might make deep and lasting impressions upon them, how jealous over them with a godly jealousy, lest they should at any time let slip these great things. 1. The duties he charges upon them, are, (1.) Carefully to attend to these themselves; "Set your hearts both to the laws, and to the promises and threatenings; the blessings and curses, and now at last to this song. Let the mind be closely applied to the consideration of these things; be affected with them; be intent upon duty, and cleave to it with full purpose of heart." (2.) Faithfully to transmit these things to those that should come after them: "What interest you have in your children, or influence ND this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. 2 And he said The LORD came from Sinai, and b Num. 27. 12, 13. c Num. 20. 24-29. d Num. 20. 11, 12. tor, strife at upon them, use it for this purpose; and command them, (as Now III. Orders given to Moses concerning his death. 1. God here reminds him of the sin he had been guilty of, for 2. He reminds him of the death of his brother Aaron, v. 50, to make his own the more familiar, and the less formidable. Note, It is a great encouragement to us when we die, to think of our friends that have gone before us through that darksome valley, especially of Christ our elder Brother and great High Priest. 3. He sends him up to a high hill, from thence to take a view of the land of Canaan, and then die, v. 49, 50. The remembrance of his sin might make death terrible, but the sight God gave him of Canaan took off the terror of it, as it was a token of God's being reconciled to him, and a plain indication to him, that though his sin shut him out of the earthly Canaan, yet it should not deprive him of that better country, which in this world can only be seen, and that with an eye of faith. Note, Those may die with comfort and case whenever God calls for them, (notwithstanding the sins they remember against themselves,) who have a believing prospect and a well-grounded hope of eternal life beyond death. ( 487 ) D rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a *fiery law for them. 3 Yea, he loved the people: all his saints are in thy hand and they sat down at thy feet: every one shall receive of thy words. Ps. 68. 17. Gal. 3. 19. or, fire of. c Hos. 11. 1. 1 John 4. 19. d 1 Sam. 2. 9. NOTES TO CHAPTER XXXIII, V. 1-5. The first verse is the title of the chapter: It is a blessing. In the foregoing chapter he had thundered out the terrors of the Lord against Israel for their sin; it was a chapter, like Ezekiel's roll, full of lamentation, and mourning, and wo. Now to soften that, and that he might not seem to part in anger, he here subjoins a blessing, and leaves his peace, which should descend and rest upon all those among them that were the sons of peace. Thus Christ's last work on earth was to bless his disciples, (Luke 24. 50,) like Moses here, in token of parting friends. Moses blessed them, 1. As a prophet; a man of God. Note, It is a very desirable thing to have an interest in the prayers of those that have an interest in heaven; it is a prophet's reward. In this blessing Moses not only expresses his good wishes to this people, but by the spirit of prophecy foretels things to come concerning them. 2. As a parent to Israel; for so good princes are to their subjects. Jacob upon his death-bed blessed his sons, (Gen. 49. 1, ) in conformity to whose example Moses here blesses the tribes that were descended from them, to show that though they had been very provoking, yet the entail of the blessing was not cut off. The doing this immediately before his death, would not only be the more likely to leave an impression upon them, but would be an indication of the great good will of Moses to them, that he desired their happiness, though he must die and not share in it. He begins his blessing with a lofty description of the glorious appearances of God to them in giving them the law, and the great advantage they had by it. I. There was a visible and illustrious discovery of the divine majesty; enough to convince and for ever silence atheists and infidels, to awaken and affect those who were most stupid and careless, and to put to shame all secret inclinations to other gods, v. 2. 1. His appearance was glorious: he shined forth like the sun when he goes forth in his strength. Even Seir and Paran, two mountains at some distance, were illuminated by the divine glory which appeared on mount Sinai, and reflected some of the rays of it; so bright was the appearance, and so much taken notice of by the adjacent countries. To this the prophet alludes, to set forth the wonders of the divine providence, Hab. 3. 3, 4. Ps. 18. 7-9. The Jerusalem Targum has a strange gloss upon this, that, "when God came down to give the law, he offered it on mount Seir to the Edomites, but they refused it, because they found in it, Thou shalt not kill. Then he offered it on mount Paran to the Ishmaelites, but they also refused it, because they found in it, Thou shalt not steal; and then he came to mount Sinai, and offered it to Israel, and they said, All that the Lord shall say, we will do." I would not have transcribed so groundless a conceit but for the antiquity of it. 2. His attendance was glorious; he came with his holy myriads, as Enoch had long since foretold he should come in the last day to judge the world, Jude 14. These were the angels, those chariots of God, in the midst of which the Lord was on that holy place, Ps. 68. 17. They attended the divine majesty, and were employed as his ministers in the solemnities of the day. Hence the law is said to be given by the disposition of angels, Acts 7. 53. Heb. 2. 2. II. He gave them his law, which is, 1. Called a fiery law, because it was given them out of the midst of the fire, Deut. 4. 33, and because it works like fire; if it be received, it is melting, warming, purifying, and burns up the dross of corruption; if it be rejected, it hardens, sears, torments, and destroys. The Spirit descended in cloven tongues, as of fire; for the Gospel also is a fiery law. 2. It is said to go from his right hand, either because he wrote it on tables of stone; or, denoting the power and energy of the law, and the divine strength that goes along with it, that it may not return void. Or, it came as a gift to them, and a precious gift it was, a right-hand blessing. 3. It was an instance of the special kindness he had for them. Yea, he loved the people, v. 3, and therefore, though it was a fiery law, yet it is said to go for them, v. 2, that is, in favour to them. Note, The law of God written in the heart is a certain evidence of the love of God shed abroad there: we must reckon God's law one of the gifts of his grace. Yea, he loved the people, or, laid them in his bosom; so the word signifies, which denotes not only the dearest love, but the most tender and careful protection. All his saints were in his hand. Some understand it particularly of his supporting them and preserving them alive at mount Sinai, when the terror was so great, that Moses himself quaked; they heard the voice of God and lived, ch. 4. 33. Or, it denotes his forming them into a people by his law; he moulded and managed them, as the potter does the clay. Or, they were in his hand to be covered and protected, used and disposed of, as the seven stars were in the hand of Christ, Rev. 1. 16. Note, God has all his saints in his hand; and though there are ten thousands of his saints, v. 2, yet his hand with which he measures the waters, is large enough, and strong enough, to hold them all, and we may be sure that none can pluck them out of his hand, John 10. 28. 4 Moses commanded us a law, even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob. 5 And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together. 6 Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few. Ps. 31. 15. John 17. 11-15. e 1 Thes. 1. 6. f Ex. 18. 16, 19. 8 Gen. 49. 8, &c. III. He disposed them to receive the law which he gave them, they sat down at thy feet, as scholars at the feet of their master, in token of reverence, in attendance and humble submission to what is taught; so Israel sat at the foot of mount Sinai, and promised to hear and do whatever God should say. They were struck to thy feet, so some read it; namely, By the terrors of mount Sinai, which greatly humbled them for the present, Ex. 20. 19. Every one then stood ready to receive God's words, and did so again when the law was publicly read to them, as Josh. 8. 34. It is a great privilege when we have heard the words of God, to have opportunity of hearing them again, John 17. 26, I have declared thy name, and will declare it. So Israel not only had received the law, but should still receive it by their prayers, and other lively oracles. The people are taught, v. 4, 5, in gratitude for the law of God, always to keep up an honourable remembrance both of the law itself, and of Moses by whom it was given. Two of the Chaldee paraphrasts read it, The children of Israel said, Moses commanded us a law: And the Jews say, that as soon as a child was able to speak, his father was obliged to teach him these words; Moses commanded us a law, even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob. 1. They are taught to speak with great respect of the law, and to call it the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob. They looked upon it, (1.) As peculiar to them, and that by which they were distinguished from other nations, who neither had the knowledge of it, Ps. 147. 20, nor, if they had, were under those obligations to observe it that Israel were under: and therefore, (says Bishop Patrick,) "when the Jews conquered any country, they did not force any to embrace the law of Moses, but only to submit to the seven precepts of Noah." (2.) As entailed upon them; for so inheritances are to be transmitted to their posterity. And (3.) As their wealth and true treasure. Those that enjoy the word of God and the means of grace, have reason to say, We have a goodly heritage. He is indeed a rich man, in whom the word of Christ dwells richly. Perhaps the law is called their inheritance, because it was given them with their inheritance, and was so annexed to it, that the forsaking of the law would be a forfeiture of the inheritance. See Ps. 119. 111. 2. They are taught to speak with great respect of Moses: and they were the more obliged to keep up his name, because he had not provided for the keeping of it up in his family; his posterity were never called the sons of Moses, as the priests were the sons of Aaron. (1.) They must own Moses a great benefactor to their nation, in that he commanded them the law; for though it came from the hand of God, it went through the hand of Moses. (2.) He was king in Jeshurun. Having commanded them the law, as long as he lived, he took care to see it observed and put in execution; and they were very happy in having such a king, who ruled them, and went in and out before them at all times, but did in a special manner look great, when the heads of the people were gathered together in parliament, as it were, and Moses was president among them. Some understand this of God himself; he did then declare himself their King, when he gave them the law, and he continued so, as long as they were Jeshurun, an upright people, and till they rejected him, 1 Sam. 12. 12. But it seems rather to be understood of Moses. A good government is a great blessing to any people, and what they have reason to be very thankful for; and that constitution is very happy, which, as Israel's, which, as ours, divides the power between the king in Jeshurun and the heads of the tribes, when they are gathered together. V. 6,7. Here is, I. The blessing of Reuben. Though Reuben had lost the honour of his birthright, yet Moses begins with him; for we should not insult over them that are disgraced, nor desire to perpetuate marks of infamy upon any, though never so justly fastened at first, v. 6. Moses desires and foretels, 1. The preserving of this tribe, though a frontier tribe on the other side Jordan, yet, "Let it live, and, not be either ruined by its neighbours, or lost among them." And perhaps he refers to those chosen men of that tribe, who, having had their lot assigned them already, left their families in it, and were now ready to go over armed before their brethren, Num. 32. 27. "Let them be protected in this noble expedition, and their heads covered in the day of battle." 2. The increase of this tribe, Let not his men be few; or, Let his men be a number. "Let it be a numerous tribe; though their other honours be lost, so that they shall not excel, yet let them multiply." Let Reuben live and not die, though his men be few; so Bishop Patrick thinks it may be rendered. "Though he must not expect to flourish, (Gen. 49. 4,) yet let him not perish." All the Chaldee paraphrasts refer this to the other world; Let Reuben live in life eternal, and not die the second death: So Onkelos. Let Reuben live in this world, and not die that death which the wicked die in the world to come: So Jonathan, and the Jerusalem Targum. II, The blessing of Judah; which is put before Levi, because |